Connecticut lawmakers will reconvene Wednesday, Feb. 4, at the state Capitol in Hartford, kicking off three months of policy debate in the short session that runs through May 6.
The session will include adjustments to the state’s two-year budget and ongoing bipartisan concerns about affordability and federal funding cuts.
Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration plans to share its proposed budget adjustments Wednesday, and the Democrat will give his State of the State address soon after.
Lamont said he plans to propose a rent cap to help residents with skyrocketing prices amid a housing crisis. He also plans to pitch a one-time energy bill rebate for millions of Connecticut customers.
Here are some of the issues to watch as the session begins:
Uncertainty from D.C.
The legislature last met during the special session in November, when lawmakers approved a $500 million emergency fund to address federal cuts and policy changes. Last week, Lamont pledged $18 million of the emergency dollars, and in December assigned over $167 million toward replacing the expired Affordable Care Act subsidies, and other social services.
On Wednesday, the Senate is expected to take up a bill to extend the use of the fund, which has over $300 million remaining. House Speaker Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) said last week the language about what federal reductions are eligible might change from what legislators approved in November during the special session.
Some Republicans have also expressed frustration with what they say is a lack of clarity behind the Trump administration’s funding cuts.
“It is never good to arbitrarily hold back money,” said House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora (R-North Branford), pointing to the $2 billion in federal funding to mental health and substance abuse programs that was frozen, then released the same day last month. He noted that some of the federal cuts might not be bad, and should be discussed during the session.
Rising food insecurity
The number of people in Connecticut who don’t have enough to eat was already on the rise year-over-year. However, the Trump administration’s deep cuts to programs that help fight hunger are a primary driver of food insecurity increasing significantly from 2024 to 2025. The other factor is rising food prices, according to a recent report from the nonpartisan Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity (CWCSEO).
“The overall state of food security in Connecticut has significantly worsened and will likely continue to do so in the coming years without significant intervention," the report stated.
The federal tax and spending bill approved by Congress removed federal nutrition assistance eligibility for refugees, asylees and humanitarian parolees, and ended SNAP work exemptions for veterans and unhoused people.
The report said Connecticut has the highest food insecurity rates in New England, and pays less per capita on food program spending compared to its neighboring states, Massachusetts and New York. CWCSEO’s primary recommendation was that the legislature create a revenue-generating fund to help backfill food programs, such as the special transportation fund.
Lamont dedicated $24.5 million in December from the emergency fund toward Connecticut Foodshare to purchase supplies for its pantries. But advocates and lawmakers have been saying the state needs to commit more of the emergency fund toward helping people who are in need.
“We are grateful that the governor has seen fit to provide more money to food pantries,” said Rep. Eleni Kavros-Degraw (D-Avon). “It is many, many times more meals that SNAP can provide, than what our food pantries can provide, even though they do incredible work.”
Ramped up federal immigration enforcement
The session begins less than a month after federal immigration agents fatally shot Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good in Minneapolis, in the midst of the Trump administration’s continued surge in enforcement activity.
In response, last week Senate Democrats announced they would propose a bill that would allow Connecticut residents to sue federal officials if they believe an individual's constitutional rights are violated.
“I think it's important for folks to be able to rest assured that the Constitution of the United States means something. If that doesn't mean something, I don't know who we are, what this country is,” said State Sen. Gary Winfield (D-New Haven), co-chair of the Judiciary Committee.
Current law allows people to sue local and state officials, and this would ideally close that loophole, if approved.
The legislature also updated the Trust Act during its November special session, restricting ICE arrests near courts. Candelora said he’d like to see reforms to the Trust Act, pointing to the first version that first passed on a bipartisan basis in 2016.
Under the updated law, immigration enforcement must have a signed judicial warrant to detain, arrest or take someone into custody on courthouse grounds in Connecticut. The state’s public agencies can’t disclose personal information that isn’t normally available such as where someone goes to school, work or lives.
